I know I haven’t blogged in quite a while now, but I’m hoping to get back into it again. Over the last couple weeks, I’ve realized that I don’t believe in safety. People always ask how I can take my son out backpacking. They ask how I can climb mountains and hang my feet off cliffs. Am I an adrenaline junky or a crazy person? Well, possibly, but it’s a lot more than that. It truly comes down to a basic belief that I didn’t really realize I had. Anything can happen to anyone at anytime. In this world, there is no such thing as safety. We are constantly in danger, we are often just oblivious to it. Is hiking in grizzly country dangerous? Yes. But I am aware of and prepared for that danger. I’m 60,000 times more likely to be killed by another human than a bear. Who are you walking next to in the grocery store today?
Let me take this one step further. Not only do I not believe in safety, but I do not believe that life was ever created to be safe. I think part of where our culture has gone so wrong is that we are constantly in search of a false sense of security rather than truly living. I’m much more likely to die in a household accident or an auto accident than any other way, and yet I feel safe in my home and driving my car. Everyone takes HUGE risks all the time whether they realize it or not. Danger is an integral part of every life – animal, plant and human. We were made to live in a dangerous place. Life was never intended to be safe and easy, and when you spend your time trying to make it that way, you miss out on all life has to offer.
There is a fine line between this type of thinking and complete idiocy. Some activities are dangerous enough that no sane person would do them. My point is that a lot of things we consider dangerous are in fact safer than things we do all the time without thinking twice. And the truth is, a little danger is good for the soul. We were made to live in a dangerous place and to thrive there. We discovered new continents and conquered them. We lived off the land with little shelter and survived. Sure, we may live longer now, but do we live happier or are we really missing all that life was intended to be?
I’ll let you make your own decision on that, but I, for one, believe that we’re missing out and that our society suffers greatly as a result. I’ve seen much, much happier children in Guatemala living in sheet metal buildings with dirt floors, wearing holy pants and underwear, playing with nothing but the dirt and not knowing where their next meal will come from, than I have ever seen playing video games in America.
Live a little!!! 
